Newcastle United have announced the signing of AC Milan talent Cathal Heffernan, while Toon midfielder Jay Turner-Cooke has sealed a season-long loan move to St Johnstone.
Heffernan is an 18-year-old Irish youth international who was spotted at St James’ Park last week, but the club have now confirmed that the centre-back will join our U21 side after leaving the Serie A giants.
The defender featured in two of the club’s pre-season friendlies over the summer and impressed during his trial, seeing him land a contract within our academy.
As for Turner-Cooke, he scored in our pre-season win over Gateshead and featured in Summer Series games against Chelsea and Brighton, but will now spend the 2023/24 season in the Scottish Premiership.
Here’s what Heffernan has told NUFC.co.uk since putting pen to paper on Tyneside:
“It’s surreal to join such a big club like Newcastle. It’s definitely a club that is on the rise and with a lot of history. During the last week, I’ve been so excited to get started and I’m now looking forward to a big season ahead.
“The first thing I noticed when I arrived on trial was the lads were really welcoming and I just want to carry that on into the season, getting to know them more. The people of Newcastle are also really nice, too.
“I have become a much better defender during my time at AC Milan and I learnt so many things to improve my game during my two seasons in Italy which should stand me in good stead for the future.
“The goal, when playing Academy football, is to try and break into a first-team as quick as you can and, hopefully, I can do that at Newcastle United.”
Heffernan is our second arrival of the week – albeit at U21 level – following Lewis Hall’s move from Chelsea, while Irish teammate Kevin Zefi is expected to follow him to St James’ Park in the coming weeks.